‘MSG IS NOT TOXIC’ – OR IS IT?

‘MSG is not toxic’ – this is a “face book” post that was brought into my attention by a colleague, about 1 week back. “Is that true?”, she asked.

The situation of general public is not different at all. Many are getting confused by number of contradicting evidence that they come across. This is what Glutamate industry needs indeed. They want you to get confused – to keep you in the dark – and away from the truth.

Let’s think of it in a different approach. If you are to call something ‘toxic’, what impression should it generate in your mind?

“I say something toxic, if it could kill me” – that was the answer of my friend. People have a perception in their minds, according to which if something could kill them, they call it toxic. The perception is stronger, if it kills you instantly. If it takes a long time to kill you, you may not aware of it’s true danger.

OK – Let’s go further.

·         Refined sugar, if consumed for long enough in large amounts, would cause diabetes and metabolic syndrome. It is also known as the number one carcinogen in world. Do you call it toxic?

·         Table salt, if consumed in a similar way, would cause hypertension. Do you call it toxic?

Although, we don’t call sugar and salt toxic in everyday life, we do know that they give rise to toxic metabolic effects in long term use. These are “SLOW TOXINS”. They will kill you, but takes a long time for it.

Now, think about MSG. It affects almost every known organ system in human body;

·         It acts as an endocrine disruptor.

·         It can cause metabolic syndrome (a collective term to identify the package of obesity, diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia).

·         It gives rise to NAFLD (Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease).

·         It operates as a neurotoxin to dysfunction the ‘master gland’ of hormone control system (hypothalamus), leading to a system breakdown.

·         It can cause retinal degeneration and make you blind.

·         Byproducts of processed MSG can give rise to certain cancers (breast, colon, prostate, pancreatic etc.)

·         It cause ALS, Parkinsonism and Alzheimer’s disease.

·         It causes male and female sub-fertility.

·         It causes thyroid dysfunction and many more.

And it takes a long time to cause any of above. ‘Taking a long time to exert the toxic effect’ cannot be taken as a feature of ‘non toxic’ substance. In summary, it acts as a “SLOW TOXIN”, similar to sugar.

So, what makes it different from sugar?

The answer lies in it’s ability to cause toxic effects in a shorter time frame among vulnerable groups.What are they?

·         Pregnant women

·         Lactating women

·         Women with fertility wishes

·         Pre pubertal children

·         Individuals with liver dysfunction

·         Individuals with micronutrient (specially, Zn, Mg, Vit. B6) deficiencies

(For example, alcoholics, athletes with poor nutrition)

What happen if these people continue to consume MSG?

·         Pregnancy & lactation – 2% of Indian population

a)      Cause maternal overweight/ obese and maternal metabolic derangements.

b)      Reduce weight and length of offspring

c)      Reduced growth rate offspring

·         Women with fertility wishes – 1 in 6 couples are subfertile

a)      Increased miscarriage rate

b)      Reduced implantation of embryos

·         Infants, toddlers and Pre pubertal children – 13%

a)      Destroys memory system

b)      Reduces  learning abilities

c)      Reduces behavioral control

d)     Damages important brain areas to lose appetite control

e)      Destroys interconnections between neural networks reducing intelligence

·         Liver disease patients and people with chronic diseases such as diabetes with various levels of liver dysfunction – liver disease prevalence in India: 2.44% & diabetes prevalence in India: 7.3%

a)      Increases metabolic derangement

b)      Increases disease complications

·         Alcoholics – represent 30% of males and 5% of females in Indian population.

a)      Increases metabolic derangement

b)      Increases disease complications

·         People with mental health disorders – 3% in Indian population

Now sum up the numbers – collective count is around 48%.

If nearly 50% of population is vulnerable to short term damage of MSG, can you call it non toxic?

Certainly NO.

MSG IS TOXIC.